XXX

OUTLINES OF GRAMMAR.

and in several nouns, e. g. hjálp, help; cp. also berg and bjarg, fell
and fjall, gildi and gjald : in the feminines bjork, a birch; fjöl, a deal-
board; b]ö:g,help; tjörn, a tarn; fjöðr, a feather (but also fiðr); gjöf,
a gift, from gefa, to give; gjörð, a girdle; jörð, eaftb (see remarks on
the 1st strong fem. declension); in the seven masc. nouns, as fjörðr, a
firth (see remarks on the 2nd strong masc. declension): and in sundry
other nouns, jarl, an earl, hjalm-r, a helmet; jaki, ice, jökull, an
icicle; hjarta, heart; jötunn, a giant, fjoturr, a fetter: in adjectives,
as bjartr bright, but birti brightness; sjalfr, self; jafn, even; gjarn,
willing (and girni); snjallr and snilli; fjarr,/ar, but firr, farther, and
firrask, to avoid, whence fjar-ski, q. v.; sjaldan, seldom; fjöl, Germ.
viel, whence fjoldi, multitude. $g* These must be distinguished from
such words as fjándi, qs. fi-andi, a fiend; sjándi, seeing, qs. si-andi;
or in trjá, arborum; fjár, pecoris;—in all of which ihejd is produced
by contraction ; as also îromjóorjú, in bjóða, Ijós, and similar words.

The Complex and Heterogeneous Vowel Changes.

Absorption and Contraction. A consonant is sometimes
absorbed by a preceding vowel, which then becomes long or diph-
thongal : 1. absorption of nasals, o. the inflexive -n in the
weak nouns and infinitives of verbs has been absorbed, but as all Icel.
inflexions (of cases and tenses) have short vowels, the end syllable has
not in this case become long, and the n has simply been dropped, leav-
ing at first a nasal sound, which afterwards disappeared: similar is the
contraction in the negative suffix (see p. xxvi). |3. in roots, the
Scandinavian tongue commonly contracts the particles an-, in-, UH-,
sin- (semper) into á, í, ú (or o), ii; pa, Engl. then; nú, Germ, nun:—in
sundry other words, esp. before s, e.g.os-s = Germ.z/ws; &s-s,deus; bás-s,
a byre; gas, a goose; ást, love (for ans, bans,gans, etc.) ; fús-s, willing,
from funs ; rás, course, from renna, to run : vetr, winter : assimilation
has taken place in the preterite forms, as batt bound, vatt wound, hratt
pushed, qs. bandt, vandt, hrandt; even ng, as in ceri, an obsolete form
for yngri, younger (qs. öngri); hesîr, a horse, prob. = hengistr, Dan.
hingst; in provinc. Dan. it is still pronounced as diphthong heist. 2.
absorption of gutturals before /; here also the / is doubled and the vowel
made long (by assimilation as well as absorption) in many words, e. g.
do-ttir, a daughter, Goth, dauhíar; nó-tt, night; só-tt, sickness, cp.
sjuk-r, sick; á-tta, octo, eight; dro-tt (q. v.); þó-tti, thought; so-tti,
sought (þykkja, sœkja); sá-tt, peace (cp. síkn) ; drá-ttr, draught;
slá-ttr, stroke; ma-ttr, migbt; ha-ttr, mode; ré-ttr, right; slé-ttr, slight;
ó-tti, fright; fló-tti, flight; þó-ttr and pjokkr, tight; fré-tta and
fregna, to ask; væ-ttr, wight, Germ, wicht; nita, to deny, cp. Germ.
nicbt; vse-tt, weight; hla-tr, laughter; slátra, to slaughter, etc.: even
before ð in the feminine inflexion -Ú6, qs. hugð. P. at the
end of a syllable; ná-r, a corpse, Goth, nabs, cp. Lat. nec-s, = Gr.
vétcvs; fá-r, Lat. paucus, Goth, fobs; fé, Goth, faihn, Lat. pecu; né,
Lat. nee, ne-que; þó, though, Germ, dock; my, a gnat, cp. Germ.
mucke; Ijo-s and Ijo-mi, light; þjó, thigh: the strong verbal forms,
infin., slá, Germ, schlagen ; fiá,,jftay ; þvá, to wath, qs. slag,.flag, þvag :
the pret. and prcs. forms, á, ought; má, might; kna, can, from eiga,
mega ; as also slæ and sló, hlæ and hló, laugh; vá, from vega ; la, from
liggja ; spa, to fpae, but spakr, wise, cp. Lat. -spicio; pa, from piggja ;
frá, from fregna ; hjO, from höggva ; bjO andbyggja; inia and tryggja ;
trúr, true, and tryggr, trusty; Freyja and Frigg. The Scandinavian
languages have rejected all guttural sounds, and even in writing the
contraction is not marked, the change having taken place long before
writing began; whereas in Engl., although the same phonetic change
has taken place, the old Saxon spelling is still kept, because the change
was of much later date (l5th century ?), when the old sound was fixed
in writing: but the Icel. spelling accords better with the sound. 3.
absorption of dentals ; only in a few cases, as mil, needle, Goth, napal;
vál, misery, A. S. v'ddl —begging or ambitus; hvárr (liter), from
hvaðarr (cp. Engl. whether); hviirt, whether; fjó-rir, an older form is
preserved in the old Swed. county-name Fjaðrundaland, the Fourth
land, cp. Lat. (juatuor: Gormr is contr. from Goð-ormr (Guthrum of
the A. S. Chronicle); Hrólfr, Ralph, from Hroðulfr, Rudolph. 4.
absorption of the semi-consonant v and the like, as ný-r new, sal soul,
Goth, savila; and contr. in forms such as mey, maid, for tnavi,
whence Goth, tnavila = mcy-la = girl; ey, for avi; hey, hay, for havi,
and many other words. 5. in Icel. (as in Latin) all monosyllables
ending in a vowel are long, therefore even the names of the letters of
the alphabet are sounded so, (a, be, cc, not a, be, ce.)

The Ablaut, or Variation of Vowels, as Jacob Grimm calls it.
This variation is chiefly found in the strong verbs, esp. in the pret. tense;
but also in nouns and adjectives : I. in those root words whose
strongverbs still exist,e.g.lið,/roo/)s,and leið.a way; lib,trembling, and
reið, riding; snið and sueið, a slice; grip and greip, q. v.; drif,spla;b,
and dreif, spray; svif, turn, and sveif, a helm ; klif and kleif, a clijf; ris,
rising, and reisa, to raise; rit, a writ, and reitr, beds, a square; bit, a bit,
and beit, bite, grazing; lit, a look, and leiti, a hill in the horizon; blik,

blink, and bleikr,pale; vik, a nook, and vik, an inlet; roði, ruddiness,
rauðr, red, and rjóðr, ruddy; Goti and Gautr, q. v.; not, nautn, use, and
njótr, a mate; klofi, a cleft, and klauf, a clove; rof and rauf, a rift; rok,
splash, and reykr (rauk), reek; flog and flaug, flight; sopi and saup, a
sip; gröf (graf-), a grave, and gróf, a ditch; hlað and hlóð, a structure;
gal, crowing, and gól, howling; drep, a stroke, and dráp, slaying; eta,
a manger, and at, eating; geta and gát, getting; set and sat, a seat;
skeri, a cutter, and skári, a swathe, etc. II. in roots where
the verb is either lost, or only found in the cognate languages or
dialects (Goth., A. S., Engl.), the vowels a, ó, œ vary, hani, a cock,
and hœna (hón), a hen; ein-man, solitude, and mœna, Lat. im-minere;
bati and bót, bettering; dagr and dcegr (dog), a day; dalr and dceld,
a dale; hagr and hcegr, easy; skaði and skœðr (skóð), scathe; net
and not, a net; kaf and kof, choking; sök (sak), sake, and scekja
(sók), to seek; kraki, a twig, and krókr, a crook; haki, a hook,
hoekja, a crutch, and haka, a chin; sama and scema (sómi), to beseem:—
irreg. variation of o. au, doði, torpor, and dauðr, death ; dofi, numbness,
and daufr, deaf; froða and frauðr, froth; snoðinn, shorn, and snauðr,
poor; baugr, a ring, bogi, a bow, and bjúgr, crooked; bloti and blautr,
wet; losa, to loosen, and lauss, loose; lofa and leyfa (lauf), to praise;
togi and taug, a string; glufa and gljúfr, a chasm; guma and geyma
(gaum), to heed; tamr, tame, and taumr, a bridle; gap, gap, and
gaupn, q. v.:—i, ei vary, hiti, heat, and heitr, hot; digna and deigr,
wet; sviti and sveiti, sweat; fita and fe'rti,fatness; sili and seil, a
siring; gil and geil, a chasm, etc. III. in many cases there is
only one derived form, e.g. dá (from deyja), a swoon; þága (from
Þ'ggj*)' acceptance; nám (from nema), seizing; kváma (from koma),
coming; reiðr (from vríða), wroth, prop, wry, distorted. It is worth
noticing that the intermediate classes of the strong verbs (the 2nd to
the 5th) gave rise to most words and forms, whereas in the 6th no nouns
were formed from the preterite, very few in the 1st class:—for spuni
(spinning), bruni (burning), runi, sultr, fundr, sprunga, stunga, drykkr,
band, hjálp (help), hvarf—nouns related to the 1st class—are partly
irregular and not directly formed from the verb; and faldr (a fold),
hald, fall, bland, gangr, hangi, fang, ráð, blástr, grátr, lát, heit, leikr,
blót, auki, ausa, hlaup, bú, högg—nouns related to the 6th class—seem
to be formed, not from the pret., but from the infinitive. Many words
throughout the language indicate ablaut and lost verbs, e. g. breið-r,
broad; hvitr, white; hveiti, wheat; deili, distinction; hreinn, pure;
beinn, straight; leifa = Gr. \tiwai (lifa, leif); draumr, a dream; naumr,
tight, etc. etc. But great caution is needed here; the form of a word
is not sufficient to prove etymology, and in many cases the likeness is
only apparent; thus gnaga (to gnaw) and gnógr (enough), or bak
(back) and bók (a book) are not related, though skaði and skœðr are.
In respect to umlaut the mere form of the word is in most cases con-
clusive ; but the ablaut, in many cases, requires examination, although
hundreds of words may still be explained by it.

^S" It is interesting to compare the Latin irregular verbs with the
strong Teutonic verbs, especially those which are etymologically
related; the pret. and pres. sing., Icel. and Lat., are the best tenses
for comparison: a. pres., Icel. et and ëdo, sit and sëdeo, les and
lego, kern and vënio, fel and se-pelio, hef and -cïpio, ber and pärio,
ek and ago, mel and mölo, veð and vddo, dreg and tråho, veg and
vcho, stend and sto. fî. pret., at and ëdi, sátu and sêdi, lásu and
lêgi, kvúmu and vent, falu and se-pêli, hóf and cêpi, báru and peperi,
ok and êgi, mól and molui, óð and va-si, drog and traxi (trab-si),
vóg and vexi (veh-si), stOð and stêti. y. Latin words with inserted
m, n may be compared with the Icel. 2nd and 3rd classes, which are
only two branches of the same kind of words ; the i and the inserted j
in Icel. are a kind of equivalent to the inserted m, n in Latin; thus
Icel. brjota braut and Lat, frango frëgi, rjúfa rauf and rumpo ru.pi,
miga ineig and iningo minxi, sníða sneið and scindo scïdi, þjóta þaut
and tundo tíltúdi, strjúka strauk and stringo strinxi, bita beit and
findo fldi: weak forms, sleikja and lingo, leifa and lingua, auka
jók and jungo jnnxi; cp. also Goth, tiuhan taub, Germ, zieben zog,
and Lat. duco duxi (due-si); Icel. tjá (to say) and Lat. dicere, and
many others.

In the Gothic the preterite is almost like the Icel., thus (compared
with table, p. xxii), Goth, brinnan, brann, brunnum; biudan, baup,
bupum; reisan, rats, risum; faran, for, forum; giban, gab, gebum
(Goth, é answers to Icel. a): in case of reduplication the same vowel
is not repeated, but changed for the sake of euphony, thus gretati,
gaigrót; blaupan, hlaiblaup (not grégrét or blauhlaup); this accounts
for the fact that the ablaut is heterogeneous, viz. does not change a
into d, u into ú, etc., as in simple absorption (see above), but into a
different kind of vowel, e. g. fara, for ; geta, gátu ; bjóða, bauð, buðu ;
falla, fell, etc. This, as well as a comparison with the Latin and
Greek irregular verbs, seems to shew that the strong verbs in the
Teutonic languages are akin to the irregular and reduplicated in Latin
and Greek, although in a contracted form. The characteristic of
weak verbs is the formation of the preterite by inserting an auxiliary